(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for preparing an end of a hose used in a towed array system to accept a mechanical termination and to a method for using the apparatus.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
A variety of devices are known in the art to ream, bevel, taper, counterbore, and scarf tubular members such as pipes. Reamers are used to remove burrs from the inside of a pipe which are created by cutting or drilling the pipe. U.S. Pat. No. 1,298,570 to Salley; U.S. Pat. No. 1,362,325 to Kemna; U.S. Pat. No. 1,414,480 to Midgley; U.S. Pat. No. 2,330,242 to Romero; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,486,129 to Vowel illustrate some of the reamers known in the prior art.
The reamer shown in the Salley patent is used to remove burrs from a metal pipe. The reamer includes a reaming tool attached to a manually operated crank. The reamer is connected to a pipe holder having thread cutting die members by a bracket having a threaded end into which the shank of the crank is inserted.
The Kemna patent illustrates a reamer comprising a cutter member mounted to a straight round shank. The cutter member has a plurality of longitudinally extending blades about its periphery. An adjustable sleeve is mounted about the cutter member to form a stop for limiting the depth to which the reamer can go.
The Midgley patent illustrates another manually operated reamer. In this device, a cutter is attached to an end of a spindle which is in turn connected to a manually actuated crank. The device further includes straps connected to a mechanism for holding the pipe in a desired position.
The Romero patent illustrates a reamer having a cutting blade placed within the frusto-pyramidical portion of a casing. The reamer is attached to the pipe to be reamed by two chuck jaws and a locking lever. The casing housing the cutting blade is mechanically joined to a second casing having a manually operated handle associated therewith. By grasping the handle, the reamer is rotated and gradually fed into the pipe.
While the aforementioned Salley, Kemna, Midgley and Romero patents are directed to devices for reaming metal pipes, the Vowel patent relates to a reamer for reaming the bell of a plastic device. The Vowel reamer includes a cylindrical housing and a reamer positioned within a chamber in the housing. The device further includes set screws for holding a pipe to be reamed in a desired position relative to the reamer.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,616,462 to Haddican; U.S. Pat. No. 3,595,107 to Dackow; U.S. Pat. No. 3,603,182 to Jackman et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,817,649 to Medney; U.S. Pat. No. 3,834,254 to Smestad; U.S. Pat. No. 4,691,600 to Carlson et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,958,542 to Skerrett illustrate different devices for tapering or scarfing the ends of pipes. The Haddican patent, for example, illustrates a tool for tapering the ends of fiber pipes. The tool includes a longitudinal spindle, an expansible chuck assembly on the spindle adapted to be received in one end portion of the pipe and to be placed in rigid contact with the pipe, a rotary handle attached to the spindle, and a pipe end taper cutting device mounted on the rotary handle. In addition to a taper cutting blade, a pipe end cutting blade is provided to square off the end of the pipe as needed.
The Dackow patent illustrates a rotary tool for concurrently forming a circumferential taper of desired angulation on an end portion of a length of plastic pipe and facing the end extremity of the portion to be normal to the longitudinal axis of the pipe. The tool is formed by a solid cylindrical mandrel having a recess into which a power driven member can be inserted. The tool further includes a cutter blade attached to the mandrel by a cutter bar.
The Jackman et al. patent illustrates another manually operated tool for tapering a glass-fiber-reinforced pipe. The tool includes a cylinder for supporting the pipe attached to a head bar. The tool also includes a cutter blade attached to the head bar. Handles associated with the head bar are manipulated to engage the cutting blade into the pipe surface and gradually trim off the glass-fiber-reinforced plastic material on the pipe end.
The Medney patent illustrates a pipe scarfing tool having a rotatable housing in which a plurality of cutting blades are included. The cutting blades are generally radially oriented and extend longitudinally at an angle with respect to the rotational axis of the housing. A keying means such as a flat is provided at one end of the housing. The keying means is adapted to be received in the chuck of a drill.
The Smestad patent relates to a pipe tapering tool having separable parts for internal and external tapering of pipe walls. The external tapering tool includes an internal drum for insertion into the pipe and a housing to which a cutting blade is attached. The internal tapering tool has an extension member which fits into a tool receiving bore in the internal drum. A turn shaft is provided to rotate the tool.
The Carlson et al patent illustrates a pipe shaver having an elongated mandrel and a plurality of cutting tools. The mandrel is secured to a cup-shaped body having a plurality of lugs for carrying circular cutting tools. A power unit having an electric motor may be used to rotate the shaver.
The Skerrett patent illustrates a device for tapering the end of a fiberglass tube. The device includes an expandable mandrel for centering the apparatus on the pipe and a cylindrical cutting head connectable to a power unit for rotation in the mandrel while tapering the outside surface of the pipe end section. The cutting head has a segmented body with removable cutting blades set at an angle to taper the pipe end.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,992,123 to Uyetake relates to an apparatus for machining pipe ends. The apparatus includes an annular housing which is adapted to receive a pipe end. A plurality of rods are threaded radially through the housing and are adjustable inwardly for engaging the pipe so as to enable axial alignment of the housing with the pipe end. A chuck is slidably mounted within the cylindrical housing for longitudinal reciprocal movement toward and away from the pipe end. The chuck is also rotatably mounted within the housing. A large nut may be threaded on the housing for positioning and retaining the chuck at selected locations along the longitudinal axis of the housing. One or more tool bits are located at one end of the chuck for machining the end of the pipe when the chuck is rotated within the housing.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,492,783 to Chamberlain relates to rubber lined pipes and the provision of a tool for counterboring the rubber lining at the end of the pipe to receive a joint-sealing member. The cutting tool comprises a combination of cutting blades which effect simultaneously a radial helical cut and a circumferential cut, leaving a clean counterbore in the rubber lining. The cutting edges of the blades are shaped to prevent rubbing on the wall of the rubber bore and are sloped so that they slice the rubber with a dragging cut and, accordingly, do not appreciably displace the rubber during cutting. Both cutting blades are fixed in a cutter head mounted on a rotatable and reciprocable shaft. The blades are preferably set so that they both cut in the same radial plane as they rotate. The tool also includes a clamping means for attachment to an end of the pipe to be bored and a drive means for the shaft with guide means for centering the cutter head in the pipe.
The devices for shaping pipes set out in the aforementioned patents are mechanically complex. In addition, there is no one device which precisely sizes both an inner and outer diameter of a tubular workpiece such as a hose. Thus, there is a need for a device or tool which is relatively simple in nature and relatively inexpensive to manufacture that can be used to precisely size both an inner and an outer diameter of a tubular workpiece. There is also a need for a material removal tool which would not displace towed-sonar-array-strength-strand-reinforced-flexible-tubing to an extent which would cause destructive distortion of the strength strand pattern.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for preparing the termination of a tubular workpiece such as a towed array hose.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus as above which allows the inner and outer diameters of the hose to be sized to close tolerances and concentricity without damaging or exposing strength members positioned within the material forming the tubular workpiece.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus as above which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture, portable and easy to use.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method for preparing an end of a hose to receive a termination piece which is easy to perform.
Still other objects and advantages to the present invention will be set forth in the following description and the associated drawings in which like reference numerals depict like elements.